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I photographed a beautiful wedding today. The brides are so much in love that it just radiated off of them. Their joy was infectious. And even me dragging them into the snow in -30something temperatures couldn’t dampen their spirits. I do have to admit, jumping back into the car after being out in that cold made me think about how great the temperatures in Florida are going to feel this January. LOL

It was a freezing cold Yule, and today was just as frigid, but like our two brides? Nothing is going to put the chill on the excitement I feel about our upcoming Disney trip.

Our big reveal yesterday didn’t go exactly as planned. Mostly I think the girl was just overwhelmed and didn’t really process the news. Damon took a video, and I’m hoping he’ll get it to me so I can share it before too long. It really was cute. And honestly? We may have surprised the kid, but she surprised us right back!

We thought all along that staying in a Little Mermaid room at Art of Animation was HUGE for her. It’s all she’s talked about whenever we’ve talked about Disney World. So we booked at the AoA resort, in an Ariel room. It wasn’t where I wanted to be, but I knew it would make her sooo happy. So when we told her where she’d be staying we were both shocked when she asked if we could stay at a different WDW resort “with different things to explore” we were shocked. But I have to admit, I was kind of excited.

As of last night we have upgraded from a value resort to a moderate one. We couldn’t afford to get the Royal Room at Port Orleans (which the girl fell in love with) but we were able to get a standard room – and they are just beautiful. So grown up, with the most beautiful linens… and a double vanity (two sinks and mirrors). It’s going to be a dream come true. And with the free dining plan that is being offered it only ended up being an extra hundred dollars or so over what our stay at the Art of Animation would have been. And get this! Instead of the quick service dining plan, we get the regular dining plan. Know what that means? CHARACTER DINING!!!

I am over the moon! We are going to be eating with Mary Poppins, Alice, the Mad Hatter, some of the princesses, the gang from the Hundred Acre Wood… it’s going to be amazing! I was excited for this trip before. But now? Now? OMG! Waiting just got a whole heck of a lot harder! LOL

Joyous Yule!

Because it’s Yule, I’m actually writing this post on the 20th and will schedule it to upload on the 21st. We will be busy with our family celebrations but wanted to be sure to share something today. 🙂 Sometime around 10:30 or 11:00 the girl will get one last present. Something we purchased while we were still in Disney World in February: a framed sketch of Ariel by one of the Disney artists.

She sooo wanted to stay in one of the Little Mermaid rooms during our last trip, but with three adults we needed to book into one of the suites. We figured bringing home a little bit of the magic for a gift later on might be a nice thing to do. Of course, at that point we didn’t realize that the very next year we’d be heading back, or that this time we’d be staying in one of those rooms the girl so coveted. It couldn’t be a more perfect way to share our surprise.

In the box, with her framed illustration, we’ll be putting this brief note:

We are all out of colour toner, so I printed the text in black and drew in the WDW logo, castle, and balloons myself. I can’t wait to see her face when she reads it! 😀

We are now one month our from our second trip to Walt Disney World. We loved our first trip (in January/February of 2013) sooo much, that shortly after returning we began planning for a return visit. This time we’ll be heading off on January 14th, once month from today, and will again be staying for ten days (two of which are devoted to travel). Unfortunately we couldn’t afford to bring my sister along this time, but I’m sure it will be just as magical though very different without her. Oh! And the girl doesn’t know about the trip yet, so don’t spill the beans. We’ll be revealing the surprise on Yule! hehehe

Anyway…

To get in the spirit of things I’m planning to blog “30 Days of Disney”.

I realized in my WDW posts from our last trip that I had barely scratched the surface. There was still SOOO much I hadn’t shared, and just a ton of pictures that never made it onto the blog. I can’t wait to start talking Disney with the kid, but until the 21st I’m stuck trying to keep my excitement bottled up. I’m hoping y’all won’t mind being a bit of an outlet for me. I am crazy excited about this trip.

So this is the first of 30 Walt Disney World posts. For now, let’s just recap where we’ve been and what we’ve seen: